Send

General Action Statement

Syntax samples

SEND <expression> <entity name> TO <destination>{,<priority>}

SEND 2 EntA TO Loc2

SEND 1 Grp_A TO Grp_A_Processing, 10

Description

Sends the specified number of a particular entity type to the destination. The entities to be sent must be waiting with a SEND routing rule. The entity that issued the SEND command continues processing whether or not entities of the type requested are waiting to be sent. If no entities are waiting to be sent, a SEND notice is automatically posted so that entities will be sent when they become available.

The SEND statement can model a system based on demand, rather than on entity arrival, (called a pull system). Customer orders cause a SEND to be issued for a main assembly. Main assembly issues SEND commands for sub-assemblies. The example model SEND has an excellent example of this technique.

The SEND statement can also be used as a control device to limit the amount of work-in-progress (WIP) in certain critical areas. Quantities are only sent to the production area when the WIP level falls below a certain point.

Valid In

Any logic.

Components

<expression>

The number of entities to send to the destination. Negative values will generate an error message.

<entity name>

The type of entity to send to the destination. You may substitute ENT() for an entity name.

<destination>

The name of the location to which the entities will be sent. You may substitute LOC() for the location name.

<priority>

Multiple SEND requests for the same entity type are filled according to the longest waiting request having the highest priority. This expression should be a number between 0 and 999. For more information on priorities, see Priorities, at the beginning of this section.

Example

In this example, EntA’s arrive at LocA1 and trigger the sending of EntB’s to LocB2. The value of EntA’s Attr2 determines the number of EntB’s sent to LocB2.

Process Table

Routing Table

See Also

ORDER, JOIN, ROUTE, WAIT...UNTIL, and LOAD.